REVIEW – Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self

I recently read Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self by Robert Waggoner, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with an interest in lucid dreams. I've read nearly every book about lucid dreaming and I can say without hesitation this book is one of the best.

There are plenty of how-to books geared toward readers who seek to experience lucid dreams for the first time. While Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self contains some techniques for that purpose, it offers so much more than that.

Waggoner takes lucid dreaming to a whole new level. Through his investigation of the profound inner awareness ever-present in our dreams, he demonstrates the vast potential for exploration and personal growth available to us lucid dreaming. This aspect of the book resonated deeply with me because it echoes my current approach to dreaming.

In my early lucid dreams, I tried to control the dream and all its contents. Often, I focused solely on the entertainment value. Over the years, I learned there was much more to lucid dreaming and I began to treat each dream as an exploration of my unconscious mind. I questioned the characters who appeared in my dreams, I sought out dream guides, and I pondered the deeper meaning of the objects that surrounded me.

I eventually progressed to posing questions and requests to the dream itself. Now if I want to know what something represents, I ask the dream, "What does this represent?" If I want to explore a particular aspect of the dream or probe further into a specific topic, I address my request directly to the dream. Sometimes I simply stand in the middle of the dream scene and state the request, and then reframe my question or ask for clarification when necessary. The response is sometimes verbal and other times visual or auditory instead, but the results frequently surprise and astonish me. While I still spend some of my lucid dream time on entertainment, I spend an equal amount of time enjoying the excitement and adventure that comes with exploring the uncharted territory of my dreaming mind.

It is rare to find a book that approaches lucid dreaming from this angle, especially one that so thoroughly details the ways in which the dreamer can explore the hidden — and often meaningful — aspects of the dream. I truly wish I had read the book years ago when I first began my lucid dreaming practice.

Waggoner’s enthusiasm for dreaming is evident on every page. Whether you are an experienced lucid dreamer or new to lucid dreaming, you should add Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self to your personal library. Reading it will awaken you to all the many possibilities lucid dreaming can offer.